In the 2000s a shy teenager named Jamie Smith frequented a tiny basement club night called Plastic People, in Shoreditch in east London, that specialised in dubstep and progressive electronic music. He would quietly stand at the back, soaking it all in, rather than partying or socialising, as he was far too preoccupied with conjuring up his own sound.
The electronica enthusiast ended up founding a guitar band in 2006 with his classmates from Elliott School in Putney, whose prestigious alumni include Rat Scabies of The Damned, Hot Chip, Burial, Four Tet and Pierce Brosnan. Instead of a conventional drummer, this black-clad group had Smith, under his alias Jamie xx, as producer and beatmaker. Reviewing xx, their debut album, from 2009, in The Irish Times, Jim Carroll called it a “drop-dead gorgeous dream-pop symphony”.
In Waves is the eventual successor to Jamie xx’s 2015 solo debut, In Colour, nine years after its release. “A lot has happened in that time,” says Smith. “Life-changing events and world-changing events. These waves that we have all experienced together and alone.” He has assembled an eye-catching supporting cast of pop and dance royalty, including Honey Dijon, The Avalanches, Robyn, Kelsey Lu, John Glacier, Panda Bear, the Belfast choreographer Oona Doherty and his ever-loyal bandmates, Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim of The xx.
The album starts with Wanna and a compressed vocal followed by the unmistakable clarion call of an airhorn. It segues seamlessly into Treat Each Other Right, the album’s first soulful, floor-filling statement of intent, with shuddering bass, an Almeta Lattimore sample, and an exhortation: “All we gotta do is treat each other right.” The music video written and directed by Rosie Marks is also staggeringly good.
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Waited All Night introduces the familiar vocal duo of Romy and Olly. From there on in, all the heavyweight guests star, with a few twists and turns. Breather is a Jon Hopkins-style guided meditation. All You Children is probably the best track The Avalanches have been involved with since their breakthrough hit, Since I Left You, back at the turn of the millennium, when Jamie xx was 11.
[ Jamie xx on new album In Waves: ‘It has definitely ended up sounding more like one of my DJ sets’ ]
So far, 2024 on planet pop has been chiefly about Charli XCX and Brat summer. In Waves looks set to top the UK album chart next week, after Jamie xx plays a series of intimate launch parties over the weekend in conjunction with local record shops, including appearances in Manchester and Bristol and, in a sunset DJ set, overlooking Brighton beach.
As we approach the countdown to the end of the 21st century’s first quarter, an impeccably crafted dance album to soundtrack the dog days of summer has arrived. Coincidentally, one track happens to be called Still Summer. In Waves is an album to turn up loud and play on repeat. Remember, all we got to do is treat each other right.
